MSPAC Member Elliott Davis recently got a little maple syrup publicity! His farm in Washington was profiled by Mommy Poppins! The Davis family has added maple syruping to their farming adventures -- along with a flock of 25 chickens, herd of Icelandic sheep and 2 beehives. To read more about this small family farm, see the full piece at Mommy Poppins.

At sugarhouses across Connecticut, local school children learn about the traditions of maple sugaring in New England. The history of maple sugaring is rooted in the land and was practiced by the Native American Tribes who lived here before us.

I know you’re in the middle of sugarin’ now in Connecticut and I know you are planning your open houses and we know you are also taking care of families, full time jobs, life in general so, just asking you to pass the word about MSPAC and CT Maple and the international meeting coming up and Ag Day and all that jazz.

An association like ours is only as good as the efforts of folk who are part of it and promote the wonderful things each other is doing. Promoting MSPAC puts your craft of sugar making in a good light and that is a bonus in more ways than one.

If anyone has ideas for Art Roy and I about a few eye catching things we can put on the table during Ag Day at the capitol, let us know…small space, people go by quickly, we need punch for a pint so to speak.

If you've never seen the magic of tapping a maple tree, you really have to see these videos. Above, a drill is used to tap the tree -- and a small pipe cleaner cleans out the wood before a spile is inserted. Below, the sap starts running!

…well sort of. Happy Groundhog’s Day! Spring looks like it’s here. If you look at the temps for the coming week you’ll see it looks like the sap will be running as well. Please check out the Maple Syrup Producer’s Association page on Facebook, contribute to this blog if you wish, send me some photos, tell us your news, keep in touch on the forum of Maple Trader, share your knowledge and joys of sugaring and some of the things to avoid as well (like Stack Burn!).

We only have 4-6 weeks and then toss sugaring back up to the folks more north of us so let’s have a blast!

Even if you’ve never made Maple Syrup before or if you have one tap on a lone tree in your backyard come February, you are encouraged to attend tomorrow’s meeting. You can glean little tidbits, learn from the pros, take away great information, enjoy meeting some new friends and most of all, be inspired to make great use of what nature gives us in abundance every spring, SAP! Go to CTMaple.org for directions to the meeting in Haddam. Hope to see you there, it’ll be a sweet time!

Yes, making Maple Syrup, Maple Sugar and many Maple Products is indeed done in the state of Connecticut. Join MSPAC – The Maple Syrup Producers Association of CT and enjoy the benefits of learning from the pros. For the beginner or the seasoned pro, MSPAC is there for you.